Photos courtesy of Bangkok Post
The water supply for residents in Nakhon Ratchasima is under threat as persistent drought and the coming hot season place a key reservoir at risk of running dry.
Read through the following story from the Bangkok Post to learn more about this situation.
The Lamtakong reservoir currently holds 86 gigalitres of water, or just 27 percent of capacity. Experts warned that this figure was dangerously low as the hot season looms and with forecasts predicting another dry year ahead.
SERIOUS PROBLEM
The reservoir is of great importance to the province’s water grid as it serves the central Muang district, in addition to Sikhiu, Sung Noen and Kham Thale So districts.
Suthirote Kongkaew, director of the Lamtakong water supply and maintenance project office, said agencies which receive water from the reservoir had been warned about the gravity of the situation.
Suthirote said that the amount of water being released from Lamtakong far exceeds what is flowing into it due to the lack of rain.
RUNNING DRY
The reservoir is discharging between 350 and 400 megalitres of water daily for agricultural and household use. Suthirote said the reservoir could run empty if the lack of rain persists longer than usual this year.
He has asked tap water and irrigation offices that draw water from the reservoir to implement water-saving measures and check pipes for any leakages. Households are also being urged to use water sparingly.
DISASTER ZONES
Suthirote said that throughout Nakhon Ratchasima, the amount of water available for use is 64 gigalitres less than at the same time last year. To date, 10 of 32 districts in Nakhon Ratchasima have been declared drought disaster zones, affecting 57,000 households.
OTHER AREAS
A similar problem is being faced in Kanchanaburi, where outflows from the province’s two major dams, the Srinagarind and the Vajiralongkorn, are greatly outstripping inflows.
Pongthep Charoenwan, assistant director of the Srinagarind dam, said a prolonged period of low rainfall was causing the problem. He added that water available for use in the two dams is at a critically low level, and efficient irrigation would be required to ensure adequate water supply for the year ahead.
Exercises
Match each of the following words used in the story with the correct antonyms from the choices given.
| …… 1. adequate | a. different |
| …… 2. supply | b. insufficient |
| …… 3. dangerously | c. demand |
| …… 4. similar | d. safely |
Vocabulary
- drought (n): a long period of time when there is little or no rain
key (adj): most important
gigalitre (n): a unit of volume equivalent to one billion litres
loom (v): to appear important or threatening and likely to happen soon
gravity (n): extreme importance and a cause for worry
persist (v): to continue to exist
sparingly (adv): in a careful way that only uses a little of something
irrigation (n): a method of supplying water to an area of land through pipes or channels so that crops will grow
